Matt Damon Prefers Millennials to Generation X

Matt Damon is at Sundance on water business. He’s here with a movie he produced called Manchester by the Sea—a grim story with the respite of some funny moments. He’s also here to talk about implementing potable water worldwide. That’s also a grim business. Unlike in a hardscrabble family tragedy, however, Damon promises there is an existent easy solution. At Sundance, Damon talked this through at a panel on his charity Water.org, sponsored by famed liquids company Stella Artois.

In a conversation with GQ over some beers, Damon framed the Flint River crisis as the baseline circumstances for many communities internationally. “It’s horrifying and inexcusable and they should definitely investigate anyone who might have known that this was happening,” he said. “That’s the reality for 660 million people around the world every day. This is one of the first cases, at least in my mind, where Americans are thinking about the critical importance of clean water.”

Damon adjusted his posture in a folding chair, which was placed on top of a thick red carpet, which was certainly though not verifiably spread over the concrete floor of a parking lot that was repackaged as an events' space. (Evidence: basement level, freezing temperatures despite heat lamps, false walls made of paper, concrete ceilings, coat check across from parked cars.)

Though he serves as a prime representative of Generation X, he quickly chastised the stereotypical inward-looking Gen-X attitude and praised this current generation of young people for its humanist awareness. “This generation seems so much more dialed-in than mine,” he said. “The rap on Generation X was that we were disaffected and thought the world owed us something. That’s very different than what you get today, which is people feel connected to things that are going on on the other side.” In his generation's defense, he said he couldn’t be sure if it was a generational change, or if technology simply helped everyone remain more connected.

Will that sense of environmental responsibility change how people think about generational legacies? “Problems seem so much bigger,” Damon explained. "You hear these end-of-world scenarios that I don’t think our parents heard. You wonder, is there going to be a world? If so, what kind of world is it going to be that my generation is leaving behind to the next generation?”

But don’t forget: He did start out this whole water business by promising an easy solution. Helpfully, Stella devised a special chalice that can be purchased for the exact amount that will deliver five years of clean water to one home. Their beer, by the way, has a lower ABV when its sold in Utah—so really everyone involved was doing their part to keep water at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations.